Scott Next2Skin LS Base Layer

There's not getting away from it Scott's Next2Skin base layer is pricey but there's also no escaping the fact that it does a good job, it's well constructed using technical fabrics to keep you comfortable during cool-weather rides.

The shirt is made of three different polyester fabrics, all of them very lightweight. The white material is the heaviest weight but that's relative; it's a fine grid pattern and highly breathable. The lower front and most of the back are made from Meryl Microfibre panels that are even more open and stretchy while the underarm areas are the lightest of the lot.

There's loads of give in all directions so you can get a close fit without it feeling uncomfortable (I went for a large but I think a medium would have been better). You want a technical top like this to fit snug with minimal creasing so that it can get on with its job efficiently.

The fabrics shift sweat very successfully, sucking it outwards away from your skin and passing it on to your mid-layer or outer layer clothing. The shirt has a Sofileta Hydrophile treatment that's designed to improve the durability of the wicking function. It might be responsible for the impressive performance but I couldn't tell you for sure. What I do know is that your sweat gets absorbed and moved away quickly.

The other thing that's really noticeable about this shirt is that it doesn't get especially heavy with moisture. Rather than getting sopping and staying that way for the rest of your ride, it dries out fast. That's another of the aims of the Hydrophile treatment. The idea is that it spreads out the moisture over a large surface area so that it'll disappear rapidly. Whatever the cause, it works well.

This shirt doesn't offer loads in the way of insulation although that doesn't bother me particularly. The primary job of a technical base layer is to keep you dry on the basis that if you get damp and stay that way, you're likely to get cold at some stage. I'll wear thermal base layers in the really cold weather when I know I'm not going to sweat much and need every bit of warmth I can grab, but at other times I'll wear a lightweight, wicking base layer like this and rely on a mid-layer and/or outer-layer to provide most of the heat.

The other advantage of a lightweight base layer is that you'll get loads of use out of it depending on what you put on over the top. You might wear this one in autumn, winter and spring.

Most of the seams are flatlock stitched so there's no irritation and Scott have printed the washing instructions on the fabric so there's no label to get on your nerves either. Very considerate.

The Next2skin shirt is also available in short sleeve (£44.99) and sleeveless (£39.99) versions.

Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over the past 20 years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for seven years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.